CAPITOL REEF STARGAZING TOURS
Due to lack of demand for our public stargazing tours in 2023, we are still determining if we’ll be switching exclusively to private tours or hosting a limited number of public tour dates.
Please email us if you’d like to attend a public tour May – October. We will open up dates to the public with enough interest. We’d still love to show you our stars!
Private tours available most days from May – October – call or email for availability and booking!
Capitol Reef is a gold tier International Dark Sky Park, and our home of Torrey, Utah was one of the first International Dark Sky Communities in the USA. We are one of the best places in the country to see the Milky Way and incredible dark skies. You haven’t experienced Capitol Reef until you’ve looked up at our night sky!
During our fun and informative program, we use bright lasers to point out constellations, satellites, and planets while sharing entertaining stories from ancient mythology and fascinating facts about what we're seeing.
We also set up a powerful telescope that will allow you to see the planets and moon up close, and reveal normally hidden phenomena like double stars, nebulas, and even peer into neighboring galaxies*.
We provide chairs, blankets, and warm beverages like hot chocolate, cider, tea, and locally roasted coffee, have a supply of blankets by our side, and set up our camping chairs for you. On nights hosted at the Cougar Ridge Resort in Torrey, we begin the evening with s'mores around a roaring bonfire.
Most people enjoy our tour of the night sky for at least an hour, but you're free to leave whenever you'd like. We usually are out no more than two hours, but feel free to stay at our stargazing locations or enjoy the bonfire at the Cougar Ridge after we pack up.
We have spent years studying the night sky and hosting stargazing events, and are considered the local experts when it comes to night sky activities. We love to share our amazing night sky, and we truly believe it is one of Capitol Reef’s most unique and best features!
*Views of the Milky Way, planets, constellations, and deep space objects change seasonally, and are affected by the current moon phase. View our guide of what to expect or check out our calendar to see what conditions will be when you visit.
PRIVATE STARGAZING TOURS
- Duration: 1-3 Hours
- Number of attendees: Typically 1-15. With 60 days advance notice, we can accomodate up 45 people
- Location: Wherever you'd like - our secluded spot inside Capitol Reef, or your lodging. We have also traveled to other locations in Southern Utah like Escalante, Moab, and Zion.
- Price:
- 1-4 guests - $300
- Additional Adult - $50
- Additional Child - $35
- Group rates available for 10+ guests.
Our stargazing program, hosted exclusively for you. We’ll bring out at least two telescopes, and you can decide the sort of experience you’d like. We can provide our educational and informative program, or keep it a more casual question and answer as we focus on all the coolest telescope objects. You’ll get plenty of peace and solitude to celebrate a special occasion.
We love to entertain groups, corporate events, reunions, and weddings and we can travel to you! Contact us for group rates.
For 2024, we are still in the process of determining the future of our public tours. If you’d prefer to book a public tour, but are willing to book a private tour, we’ll provide a refund of the price difference if we add public dates. We will honor all dates for any private booked tours regardless of our future public schedule.
STARGAZING GUIDE, EXPECTATIONS, AND FAQS
While we have practically zero light pollution in Capitol Reef National Park, the current moon phase has a major impact on visibility of the stars. A full moon or first quarter moon are awesome to look at in our telescope, but the Milky Way won’t be visible and most deep space objects like galaxies and nebulas will be extremely hard to see in the telescope when the Moon is so bright. We suggest visiting around a “New Moon” phase for the best conditions for viewing the Milky Way and deep space objects in our telescope, but it’s still worth it anytime of the month.
What do you mean you didn’t plan your entire trip around the moon phase!? We think it’s still worth checking out a stargazing tour even when the Moon is out! We just want to let you know what to expect so you don’t show up expecting to see the Milky Way on a full moon night.
During our fun and informative program, we use bright lasers to point out constellations, satellites, and planets while sharing entertaining stories from ancient mythology and fascinating facts about what we’re seeing.
We also set up a powerful telescope that will allow you to see the planets and moon up close, and reveal normally hidden phenomena like double stars, nebulas, and even peer into neighboring galaxies*.
We provide chairs, blankets, and warm beverages like hot chocolate, cider, tea, and locally roasted coffee, have a supply of blankets by our side, and set up our camping chairs for you. On nights hosted at the Cougar Ridge Resort in Torrey, we begin the evening with s’mores around a roaring bonfire.
Most people enjoy our tour of the night sky for at least an hour, but you’re free to leave whenever you’d like. We usually are out no more than two hours, but feel free to stay at our stargazing locations or enjoy the bonfire at the Cougar Ridge after we pack up.
We have spent years studying the night sky and hosting stargazing events, and are considered the local experts when it comes to night sky activities. We love to share our amazing night sky, and we truly believe it is one of Capitol Reef’s most unique and best features!
*Views of the Milky Way, planets, constellations, and deep space objects change seasonally, and are affected by the current moon phase. View our guide of what to expect or check out our calendar to see what conditions will be when you visit.
- Duration: 1-3 Hours
- Number of attendees: Typically 1-15. With 60 days advance notice, we can accomodate up 45 people
- Location: Wherever you’d like – our secluded spot inside Capitol Reef, or your lodging. We have also traveled to other locations in Southern Utah like Escalante, Moab, and Zion.
- Price:
- 1-4 guests – $300
- Additional Adult – $50
- Additional Child – $35
- Group rates available for 10+ guests.
Our stargazing program, hosted exclusively for you. We’ll bring out at least two telescopes, and you can decide the sort of experience you’d like. We can provide our educational and informative program, or keep it a more casual question and answer as we focus on all the coolest telescope objects. You’ll get plenty of peace and solitude to celebrate a special occasion.
We love to entertain groups, corporate events, reunions, and weddings and we can travel to you! Contact us for group rates.
For 2024, we are still in the process of determining the future of our public tours. If you’d prefer to book a public tour, but are willing to book a private tour, we’ll provide a refund of the price difference if we add public dates. We will honor all dates for any private booked tours regardless of our future public schedule.
While we have practically zero light pollution in Capitol Reef National Park, the current moon phase has a major impact on visibility. A Full Moon looks great in our telescope, but unfortunately no Milky Way will be visible and deep space objects will be extremely hard to see because the Moon is so bright. We suggest visiting around a “New Moon” phase for the best conditions for viewing the Milky Way and deep space objects in our telescope.
What do you mean you didn’t plan your entire trip around the moon phase!? We think it’s still worth checking out a stargazing tour even when the Moon is out! We just want to let you know what to expect so you don’t show up expecting to see the Milky Way on a full moon night.
